Dear Friend,
These are difficult times for our community. Every day we hear of more atrocities and pain in a region that so many of us love. To those with friends and family in Israel and Gaza – we hold you in our hearts and wish you peace and comfort. To our Kansas City Jewish community – we’re ‘Here For You’ as you grieve and try to make sense of the violence in the region. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to offer support and prayers and to those who have attended our support groups. Over the past few weeks, we’ve felt the embrace of our community and are reminded that we are stronger together.
Even as we struggle to make sense of war abroad, we continue to serve those at home with JFS services and programs. If you haven’t yet seen the story of our client Kelly, please watch the video of her journey here. Kelly’s smile lights up a room, and her enthusiasm for the future gives us incredible joy knowing that JFS has had a role in her story. Your donation today means that we can continue to serve our community with access to fresh and healthy food, financial aid, mental health resources, and community support. Please consider donating so that JFS can help folks like Kelly thrive.
And finally, even in the darkest moments there is light to guide us forward. It is with the greatest pleasure that we announce the beginning of the next chapter of JFS. Over the next week you will see that we both are serving as Executive Director and CEO of JFS. We’re spending this time working together, sharing knowledge, making connections, and asking questions to ensure that our clients, volunteers, donors, and community feel the smooth transition of leadership in our agency. Kelly begins leading the agency on her own beginning November 6th. If you have any questions or just want to reach out, feel free to send either of us an email.
With Gratitude,
Kelly Davydov
Executive Director & CEO
kdavydov@jfskc.org
Don Goldman
Executive Director & CEO
dgoldman@jfskc.org
P.S. from Don:
This is my last letter to you, the community that embraced me 16 years ago and taught me how to lead an agency that now serves over 10,000 of our Kansas City neighbors every year. We have supported each other through too many milestones to name, including a global pandemic, a major capital campaign to renovate our own building in Brookside, incredible growth in staff and clients, innovation and creation of new programs, and a never-ending desire to do more and be better for those we serve. Thank you for granting me the privilege of serving as the Executive Director and CEO of JFS all these years. Though I will not hold this honor for much longer, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily! After some time away, I’ll return to volunteer with JFS as a JET Express driver. I am confident that Kelly will bring great things to the agency and be an incredible leader to make JFS an even better, stronger partner for our community. Take care.
